Does Anyone Remember Starbug???

i have some really bad news to report here. Starbug who used to be an active member here and still is a Prius enthusiast, although because of finances she opted for a used Honda, is having a family crisis.

her father is in the hosiptal with stage 4 cancer. he is barely 50 and most likely does not have a lot of time left. my prayers are with her and her family

I remember. I kept hoping that she would rejoin us at least to talk. I don't care what anyone drives as long as they are a kindred spirit. My best to her father. Forgive me for being clinical but what is the primary Lung or Colon? I will send my prayers and energy to her father give her my best. I have her signature hanging in my office under the map of the Milky Way with the you are here arrow pointing to Sol. Tell her that! Please give her my best.

o wow... i remember her. prayers are with her father and with her.

I remember her too. Loves hot food!!! I know what she is going through and can only wish her the best. It is hard when someone you are close to receives a terminal diagnosis. An infinitely helpless feeling especially so young.

Starbug, if you are listening, hang in there. I really do know what you are going through.

Jon

Dave, How is she doing. Is there some thing we might do to help?

i havent talked to her since she told me about her dad. i tried calling her but if she is at the hospital, she probably will be hard to contact. tomorrow im going over to pick up some RC car parts so will be able to talk to her boss. i am gonna try to find out where she is at and swing by to see how she is doing

here is an update from Angela (starbug) she sent me. she gave me permission to reproduce her email


be pre-warned... she was very very graphic in her description



My father has colon cancer that spread to his liver, lymph nodes, pancreas (sp??), and lungs. He is in Stage 4, and has had the cancer for 5 years. He always believed himself "indistructable" and extremely healthy, so never saw a reason to see a doctor for any reason at all. He was never as healthy as he claimed to be, and we always told him to see the doc for a complete physical. When he turned 50 we told him to have a colonoscapy (sp?), and when he started having odd aches and pains that never went away we told him (again) to see the doc (we now know it was the beginnings of cancer). He always refused, and now pays for that with his life at the young age of 55.

We rushed him into the hospital a week ago when the doctor's bloodwork and CT scans revealed cancer, and the doc called early that morning (he was supposed to call that afternoon) and said GET HIM IN NOW. It was estimated that he had two weeks to live because the tumor in his colon was nearly completely blocking his intestines up. He could not eat or drink anything without throwing it back up, as it had nowhere else to go once in the stomach. The hospital stuck a tube up his nose and into his stomach, and promptly suctioned out 4 liters of bile/fluid. A couple hours later he went into sevier shock, turned blue, and nearly died. I have never before seen someone turn blue, and I hope I never do. The next day he had surgery to remove 25% of the colon and restore his small intestine so that food can pass through, and to remove his lymph nodes (they couldn't touch the one behind his pancreas). They kept the stomach tube in for the rest of the week, and continued to pump out liter after liter of deep sickly-green fluid/bile. His bone marrow and immune system have both shut down, he had internal bleeding from the tumors (fixed during surgery), and is jondiced (sp?).

All this time he's had a REALLY bad case of the hick-ups, which we are told is a symptom of liver cancer. They go on 24/7 non-stop. It is so bad that Sat he could not even breathe because one hick-up imediately followed the other without even a second's delay. He ended up vomiting at that moment too, and has continued to since (previously stoped after the stomach tube was put it, but now it's back).

The doc in charge of the chemotherapy told us that he's terminal. Without chemo, he's got no more than 3 months left. But since we are going to do chemo (3 weeks from now, after his bone marrow has been made to produce blood cells again, and his immune system is back) he's going to have about 12-15 months life expectancy. Everybody I've talked to that had a reletive go through this too has said their reletive died a year after the surgery, so that's the ball-park and anything else beyond is a bonus.

I am on leave of absence from work til my dad comes home from the hospital, so I've been spending every day there.

This morning my wife got a call from her mother. Her brother Steve, who is 54 is dying of liver and lung cancer. He, too did nothing until he literally dropped. He smoked cigarettes until 3 months ago and had a smokers cough for at least 2 years. My wife is flying out to AZ to say goodbye to him. I suspect he will be gone within a week.

I'm very sorry to hear about the man you were talking about. I am 55. I hope tomorrow is a better day for everyone.

Hi guys! Yes, it has been a looonnnggg time since I last posted. Had login issues, then simply got busy with work. :blink:

An update on my father: this morning his blood pressure dropped again (it goes up and down)... it went to 86 over 43. He was passing out big-time. Tonight, they desided to let him come home tomorrow morning. So after 8 rough days in Evergreen Hospital, he gets to sleep in his own bed. In 3 weeks he'll start the chemo.

My dad is home as of noon today. He's laying on the couch now. So far, so good.

Hi Starbug. I've missed you, as have apparently all of us. (I moved from Fargo to Spokane in your absense.)

Best wishes for your dad.

Daniel

wb starbug...about time...

and about that email i sent you with alternative user name ideas... you dont have to read it if you dont want...ya, might wanna just delete it.

yep thats what i would do...ok then!! thats settled.

welcome back...

Hi Starbug,

Glad to hear that there is some control available for your dad. Some amazing new biologicals available now for Colon Ca such as Avastin and Tarceva (made by Genentech) used in conjunction with standard chemo. Wish it were more than control however.

A very useful website is www.acor.org

ACOR stands for Association of Cancer Online Resources. They have among other things various listserv's dedicated to specific cancers. I ended up on thier pancreatic ca listserv a few months ago because of my wife's diagnosis. Lots of caring people who can provide good reliable resources including references to various ongoing trials and suggestions as to how to deal with insurance if and when needed; as well as an understanding shoulder to cry on when needed.

Best Wishes for you and your dad. It is not an easy road we travel.

Jon

Welcome back. Follow the advice above there are a few exciting things happening just now. My partners husband is in remission from a Dukes 4 and is doing well after 4 years no evidence of tumor. Rays of sunshine. Attitude is key. Hang in, waiting is. Good to hear from you. I will send positive energy in your direction. Let's see that is about 14 degrees 3 Min from where I am. I am south and a bit west of you. Got it!

Hey Starbug (Angela), My prayers go out to you and your Dad and family. I lost my mom to ovarian cancer 3 years ago. She was young (67) though not as young as your dad. She had the non-stop hiccups too! She was miserable with them and hardly anything we could do to relieve them. Finally a very kind pharmacist suggested the drug Baclaphen (sp?) and it worked! I know colon CA is probably a lot different from ovarian. Have a friend a work who is a colon cancer survivor--she had it at age 35. Hang in there!

B.

Haha, sorry Dave... I already read your email. It was hilarious.

And I see Daniel and Henry still have their cat and dog (respectively) on their avatars. Long live the animal avatars!!

Awww, I was missed? Tee-hee, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! *hugs all* :wub: *and steals Dave's Prius when he's not looking* I really missed being here!


Thank you for the link, jchu. I'll check it out. We are going to use conventional medicines (normal chemo, and some newly released drugs), and some homeopathic stuff to help. We figure the homeopathic stuff can't do any harm so we might as well use it with the conventional medicines. Maybe together, they might give him more of a chance. It is very encouraging to hear that Henry's partner's husband is also in Dukes 4 and went into remission! I didn't think that would even be possible this far along.

Whoa, you must have posted as I hit the Add Reply button...cuz you weren't there a second ago! :blink:

I'm sorry about your mom. Oddly enough, I just realised that my dad's hick-ups have stopped today. I don't know if they'll be back tomorrow or not; but at least today he gets some relief from it! Where did you get the Baclaphen?

sorry to hear of you dilemma Angela and my thoughts are with you.
Frank

Baclofen is a prescription medication most frequently prescribed for muscle spasm. Any licensed physician can write for it.

Thank you, Frank